Rush's admission

[sunnyday]

Rush adimitted to the public today that he is addicted to painkillers. Why did he wait so long? In any case, I feel sorry for him because that must be a terrible problem for anyone. One day on his show, he was talking about young people and drugs. He said if your son or daughter is addicted to drugs, put him or her out on the curb with the rest of the trash! I wonder why he would say such a thing knowing he, too, was addicted.

[j]

I'm dissapointed, but not surprised. As far as Rush not telling his audiance sooner...he probably set up this De-Tox thing and like any addiction, whether it be cigarettes, alchohol, drugs....the person has to make that commitment in their own mind, and often a time is set as a goal.

Before everybody thinks that I'm a total dittohead.....I do beleive that if Rush has broken the law, that he should be prosecuted to the limits of the law, just as you or me would be. However, bare in mind, that when a person has an addiction, that in most cases, the legal system does not prosecute that person for the lesser crime of possession or procurement of said drug.

What I do not want to see here is an example being made of Rush because of who he is.

Rush througout his career has set many ambitious goals and has been very successful. I think he willl beat this problem too, and be a better person for it. Don't look for Rush to make any excuses for what has happened to him. He will assume full responsibility for his actions.

[wx247]

So far I think the coverage of this story has been very fair and has given Rush the benefit here. I think it has been handled well.

[Rainband]

I agree I think Rush should be treated the same as any other individual in the same case. He should NOT be made an example of..just because he is Rush. From what I have seen he has been treated fairly thus far!!

[Stephanie]

I agree that he should not be made an example of either, just because of who he is. I think that it has been handled well so far by him, the press and the authorities. I hope that he is successful with his rehab!

[sunnyday]

Will someone please address the hypocrisy of Rush's statments against drugs and drug addicted young people vs. the fact that he is in the same predicament? I feel bad for him, though.

[janswizard]

I echo your thoughts, Sunnyday. An addiction, regardless of what substance is being used, is hard to overcome. Being in that position, he should understand that. I suppose like most addicts, he refused to see what everyone else was capable of seeing - maybe that's what happened. When most people think of addicts, they think of alcohol or illegal drugs. But when it comes to legal medications that are out there and aren't being taken properly, people tend to dismiss the fact that they can create a problem, too. I can't help feeling that the views he has expressed on this subject were tacky.

[sunnyday]

Jan,
I'm glad you see it that way, too. His 'fans' seem to think he can do no wrong, including the way he was living one way and condemning others who were doing the same thing. I realize that some of his fans have minds of their own, but I fear that many people blindly follow him. I have never seen the appeal they see.

[Stephanie]

Will someone please address the hypocrisy of Rush's statments against drugs and drug addicted young people vs. the fact that he is in the same predicament? I feel bad for him, though.

I already have in the first post about Rush and ESPN and the drug investigation. I don't care for the man, and I never did because of what I thought was a total lack of understanding and respect for a person that may be down and out. I never cared for a person that put themselves up on a pedestal; so full of themselves, so above everyone else and what they said is the way it must be.

I hope for his sake that he does recover from his addiction AND becomes more sympathetic towards human beings and all of their fallacies and foibles. Hopefully he now realizes that he IS a human being, it's okay to make mistakes and show compassion towards others.

I can only imagine what he must've been going through mentally and emotionally when he had to admit that he has a problem and reflect on the things that he has said about others in the same boat as hime on his show. Alot of pride was swallowed then, but the first step to recovery is always admitting that you have a problem.

[coriolis]

Sunnyday, you raise a very interesting question.

I think that there is something in human nature that condemns in others, the same thing that we struggle with ourselves. A person with an addiction hates that addiction. He or she knows that it is wrong but feels helpless to overcome it. It's an endless cycle of struggle, failure, remorse, and self hating, over and over. When that person sees it in another person he recognizes it and hates it in that other person too. I think that is where the condemnation comes from. In a twisted sort of way, an addict feels a small victory over his own addiction by condemning it in another person. Some people would see it as being hypocritical. I think that it is more of a way for an addict to try to gain some power over the addiction in himself. A vehement condemnation of others is a sign of an intense struggle. When a person just gives up fighting an addiction, the condemnation stops.

[janswizard]

They say a person has to "hit bottom" before they are willing to help him/herself. And that that person has to truly want to accept help "for themselves" before any kind of treatment can be helpful. Which is a whole lot different than "I'm doing this for you as opposed to I'm doing this for myself".

I've never had a problem with alcohol or drugs but I've had the misfortune to be touched by these problems personally. I was married to an addict who would not admit that the problem was with him, not those around him. He was a pro at playing the "blame game" - i.e. I use because (fill in the blanks). I haven't seen him for several years so I have no idea if he ever hit his bottom and accepted help because he wanted to improve his quality of life.

My brother is also a user and is currently in a program to help himself overcome his addicitions. Once he completes the program, he will move to a half-way house where he will continue to get the support he needs to bring himself back to normal living. His addiction goes back 20 years - he wasn't an every day user but frequent enough that he wasn't capable of making any good judgements for himself and for his family.

IMO, my brother hasn't his bottom yet either. Because of bad choices, he is finding himself homeless going into November in the Northeast. Users can be crafty people - they have to be in order to live their lives without letting others know what is going on. I believe my brother's choice to "seek help" is a ploy to find living accomodations that will help him get through the winter up there.

That's not a very nice thing to say, I know, but my whole point is that like a horse, you can lead it to water but you can't make it drink. I can't help wondering if the Rush situation may not compare in some way. Did he really hit his bottom or is this a way to circumvent the legal problems he's facing.

[coriolis]

That's right. Hitting bottom has to come from inside. It can't be imposed from the outside. I suppose that public humiliation could do it, but not necessarily.

Something like legal painkillers may not have the same stigma as other addictions. Maybe thats one reason that things like cigarettes are so hard to quit - because they're legal. Oops, now I sound like I'M making excuses.

[Stephanie]

Sunnyday, you raise a very interesting question.

I think that there is something in human nature that condemns in others, the same thing that we struggle with ourselves. A person with an addiction hates that addiction. He or she knows that it is wrong but feels helpless to overcome it. It's an endless cycle of struggle, failure, remorse, and self hating, over and over. When that person sees it in another person he recognizes it and hates it in that other person too. I think that is where the condemnation comes from. In a twisted sort of way, an addict feels a small victory over his own addiction by condemning it in another person. Some people would see it as being hypocritical. I think that it is more of a way for an addict to try to gain some power over the addiction in himself. A vehement condemnation of others is a sign of an intense struggle. When a person just gives up fighting an addiction, the condemnation stops.

That's an interesting way of looking at it and it makes alot of sense.

I smoke, though I don't condemn others for doing it, because I don't hate it myself. Actually, I'm more pissed off at having fewer and fewer areas where I can smoke.

[coriolis]

Yeah, Steph, I started again, after all the hullabaloo a few months ago.
I do catch myself from time to time looking down on others who smoke, especially if they are using money that should go for family needs to buy the smokes. It is hypocritical, and I think that the dynamic I described is at play.

[JetMaxx]

I've never been of fan of Rush or his radio show, but do feel sympathy for him...because anyone can become addicted to pain medication...and it definitely doesn't take a "bad person" or criminal.

Case in point...my stepsister Maria is a kind and very gracious young lady...was always a good girl as she grew up-- never in trouble, never took drugs or drank; but instead grew up in church. She's an administrative assistant at a local bank, and has never been arrested...her criminal record is as clean as mine...spotless.

In 1996, at age 20...only a few weeks after her wedding, Maria was involved in an ATV accident that nearly took her life. She suffered numerous broken bones, a punctured lung, a ruptured disks and a fractured vertebra; and was briefly paralyzed from the waist down (another reason I know firsthand what former POW Jessica Lynch went through during her long recovery

Maria underwent emergency surgery that saved her life, and fortunately she regained full use of her legs....today she walks without a limp. She also unfortunately became hooked on pain medication prescribed for her during her recovery...and it was hell on earth for her to kick the habit.

If my sweetheart stepsis can get addicted to painkillers, I know anyone can...

[Stephanie]

Yes, Perry. It is extremely easy to get addicted to those painkillers.

I'm glad that she was able to kick the habit and that the surgery was such a success!

[azsnowman]

Well.......here's my 2 cents worth, yes, this is a little hard for me to admit, I've told one person here via pm that I, your azsnowman, live on pain meds day to day. An addiction, maybe, do I need them? Yes...as most of y'all know, I cut meat for 20 years and retired, my back is thrashed beyond repair. I take Lortab 10 mg 3x day....same thing Rush was addicted to......do I have sympathy for him, you BET I do, as Bill and many others here will tell you, chronic back pain, 24/7 is nuthin' to shake a stick at. I find the older I get, the harder it is to move around and do the things I use to just 2 years ago. I'm in constant pain, the Lortab eases it somewhat, it makes it to where I can function and lead a *some what* normal life.

As far as hitting bottom, to be real honest, I've tried till I'm blue in the face trying to ease myself off them, but nothing else works and I'll be damned if I suffer. Yes, I'm an addict of sorts but ya know, a person HAS to do what they have to to survive and if I have to live with the fact that I'm addicted to pain killers, so be it.......

Dennis

[opera ghost]

Will someone please address the hypocrisy of Rush's statments against drugs and drug addicted young people vs. the fact that he is in the same predicament? I feel bad for him, though.

It's possible to know that what you are doing is wrong- to acknowledge it... and to not be a strong enough person to change. An addict who speaks out against addiction may be a hypocrite... but at the same time they're speaking out for what is morally accepted in todays political climate.

I'd rather Rush condemned all addicts to the streets and be the biggest hypocrite of them all... than he tell even one person that he loves his addicted lifestyle and wouldn't change it.

While he may be a hypocrite- he is using his position as a public figure to help the advocacy against addiction. THAT is a good and wonderful thing. I would rather have a million hypocrites speaking out agaisnt addiction than a single honest person who says they coudln't help it or they like thier lifestyle. The public as a stupid coherent mass doens't recognize such fine subtilities as hypocracy and lies- they take what is fed to them and follow it- bleeting like sheep. Individuals are smart- the masses as a functioning body are dumb as a fencepost- and that's criticizing the fencepost.

So let him should his condemnations to the rooftops. The people who would be most affected by his anti drug message won't be smart enough to put 2+2 together- or if they do they won't understand the subtilities of hypocricy. I'm all for anythign that gets the state of addictions down!

[JetMaxx]

Here's another point I forgot to make this afternoon....the battle to beat addictions to pain pills can create other addictions.

Before her accident, my stepsister looked like a blonde supermodel...5'10 & 135 lbs at age 20...she was a babe. She began gaining weight during her recovery from the accident, especially after being addicted to the pain pills. Today at age 27, my stepsister probably weighs close to 250 lbs....she finally managed to kick her addiction to pain medication, but in it's void she became addicted to food. She's still a very pretty young woman in the face, but that accident and subsequent battle to end her addiction has changed her life forever

[coriolis]

And as a followup, Operaghost, those that are crying hypocrite the loudest are those who oppose his political stances. I suppose that those (If I use the "L" word, does that make me a dittohead?) PEOPLE would rather us all be addicted and not making moral distinctions.